Monday, March 28, 2011

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-elagic!

Birdcouple was ABOUT done with cold birding by mid-March. But we had one more task ahead of us: a pelagic boat trip to the Atlantic Ocean waters off the coast of Ocean City, MD, looking for seabirds. It promised to be interesting, adventurous and COLD.

Northern Gannet

In case you were wondering what the Atlantic Ocean looks like in March, thanks to Birdcouple you don't have to go and look for yourself:

Dan Haas was on the lookout for an elusive Skua! We didn't find one, but Dan got a decent enough picture of a shearwater to confirm it was a Sooty Shearwater, a lifer for many of us onboard.

What with birds disappearing behind waves, diving and flying off, and the boat lurching back and forth, Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-elagic photography can be a challenge. This is the best Warren could do with a nearby Razorbill:

As we pulled back in towards port and poured the last of the chum overboard, gulls flocked about our fine ship, the Morningstar. This one reminded us of a certain Alfred Hitchcock bird movie:

Others seemed to dance along the water:

Even Herring Gulls can be pretty sometimes:

Our last birds of the day were a pair of Laughing Gulls at the OC Inlet parking lot. We tried to turn them into Franklin's Gulls. Dan wasn't buying it.

We were tired too, after 11 hours on the boat and a 4:30 am wake-up call. Time to go home and rest. And warm up.

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April 2014 issue! Rarity Focusis the northward spred of the Sinaloa Wren and an Old World warbler in Bermuda. Articles on FY2015 federal budget impact on conservation; impact of the Galveston Bay oil spill; future of New York's Jamaica Bay after Hurricane Sandy, and much more. Previous issues available here.

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Half of BirdCouple appeared on Bill Moyers" PBS show in April 2007 (non-birding)

One day....

... the Sage Valmiki saw a bird couple sitting on a branch of a tree engaged in their tete-a-tete. While he was blessingly admiring the bird couple, a wicked arrow of a hunter pierced through the male bird, which fell instantly to the ground, and the female bird chirped bemoaningly. Equally hurt as with an arrow, the poet uttered: "For endless years to come, O Hunter, never shall thy soul find peace" - The Ramayana